’Tis the season to help make a Miracle

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/11/2022 (723 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s that time of year again — time to climb the mountain to help Winnipeggers who need our help this holiday season.

The annual Free Press Miracle on Mountain campaign — which helps the Christmas Cheer Board help city residents who, otherwise, wouldn’t be able to afford a proper holiday meal for themselves or their families — kicks off today.

“Free Press readers have always responded to this call with generosity that is both amazing and comforting,” Editor Paul Samyn said.

“Given the inflationary challenges affecting so many families at this time of year, the call we are making with this year’s Miracle on Mountain is doubly important.”

The Cheer Board already knows this year’s financial crunch will mean more people than ever will be registering to get a hamper. They’ve budgeted for 18,000, but fear they will get as many as 19,000 requests.

When volunteers begin delivering hampers on Dec. 7, turkeys won’t be in them.

Shawna Bell, the cheer board’s head elf, said after checking with various social agencies, they learned many people didn’t want the birds or didn’t know what to do with them. Many hamper recipients don’t have an oven.

“A turkey at Christmas is really a North American tradition — it isn’t so much a tradition from the countries many people have come from,” Bell said. “It’s not part of their culture.”

Bell said turkeys were a huge expense for the Cheer Board, and eliminating the birds will actually benefit recipients.

“We checked with the Child Nutrition Council of Manitoba and we are including more protein in the hampers. There will be more canned meat, like tuna, and a protein like kidney beans. We’ve been able to improve the quality of the hampers,” she said.

“We’ve taken the money from the turkeys and put it into the hampers.”

The board distributed grocery gift cards instead of hampers last year and in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hampers will be delivered until Dec. 23, but anyone who hasn’t received theirs by then can pick one up in person on Dec. 24. This year the Cheer Board is located on Wellington Avenue, across the street from the Victoria Inn.

Bell said the phone rings constantly; about 4,000 people have already requested hampers.

“It has just been constant,” she said. “We are averaging 670 applications a day in the first six days. And we’re doing another 30 days. That’s a scary number if the calls keep up.

“I don’t want that to become reality.”

Almost 1,000 requests have come from people who are single, and there have been 687 from households with two people. Another 594 requests have come from families of three, and there have been 635 with four family members.

The only thing stopping many people from having a decent Christmas meal is a lack of donations to stock the hampers, and that’s where you come in. There are various ways to contribute and receive a tax receipt; the information appears in the accompanying fact box.

Please think about the people around us — many of whom have children — who need a hand, and donate generously.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca